The Captain of the Watches Reports

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 88704

The Crown Princess rose in the Ruby Room, which was the banqueting hall of the Royal Palace. Today it held all of the available councillors to the Queen. The Crown Princess said crisply, "We shall keep this moving. The Queen and I have chosen some of you to report any news that you have. Barring any questions from the Queen, we will have silence until all reports are finished. We shall start with the Captain of the Royal Watches, who shall also give us any news from the Home Guard, as they were on watch on the grounds outside the Water Tower. The personal maid of the Queen shall speak concerning the schedule of the princess of the previous day, and the intended schedule for today. Then the Assistant Doyeness, in the absence of the Doyeness, will give us an update on any magical or scientific discoveries at the scene, as well anyone that they suspect could be behind this crime. Then my sister, the Duchess of Themyscira, will give a summary of possible foreign enemies, and she may call on Lord Fred for details as to the situation in the Havnheim. After the reports are delivered, the Queen shall have the first right to ask questions, then myself, and then others in this room. Madame Captain, you may speak."

The Captain of the Royal Watches strode to the speaker's lectern, and laid a tablet with some notes on the lectern. She began, "A brief summary is in order for those who have not heard the complete history. The Fourth Watch is reponsible for guarding the royal person from midnight to dawn. The Chief Lookout is Marjorie of Ryecamp. There are fifty guards available for the watch. Sixteen were deployed at various points in the watch tower, twenty-six were deployed at the palace to protect the royal family, and eight were off-duty that day, as is normal. The points where the guards were deployed were either physically vulnerable to attack or had to potential to hide an attacker. The first act of the Fourth Watch was to make sure that everyone in that tower was supposed to be there. Then the sentries took their stations, and the door to the outside of the tower was locked, as well as the door to Astra's suite. There was a window to the bedroom of the Princess that was open. This was intentional, as Astra enjoyed the night air, and it allowed the sentry stationed outside to view her."

"The point outside of the window had two sentinels. One of these guards was a regular on the first watch. The most experienced guards from the watch drew this duty, which would rotate every hour, so as not to miss things. In addition, Justin Magus of the College of Seers was posted nearby in order to look for magic."

"Nothing odd was reported by any guards until about a half hour before dawn. Madame Berea, Astra's personal maid, and Olivia of High Street, one of the Fourth Watch guards, opened the door. The Lookout reported that the light from their lantern dazzled her, and when she could see again, Astra appeared to be gone. Madame Berea and Olivia could find no trace of Astra."

"It appears that the Lookout rang the alarm bell very quickly. The Fourth and First Watches were able to organize a sweep of the Water Tower and the grounds, with the assistance of some of the men of the Home Guard. This last procedure was unusual, but given that the Home Guard had their headquarters in the tower until recently, I approved this."

"Inside Astra's suite was a schedule written down on a pampilset, a full pitcher of water, one empty chamber pot, and a tray that Madame Berea brought inside. None of the Princesses swords or knives appeared to be missing, and her purse was untouched. The only thing missing was the red robe that she slept in, a pair of old comfortable old leather shoes that she would wear when not seen in public, and a miniature of Lord Fred."

"All those who were stationed at the Water Tower at the time of the vanishing have been pulled off-duty, and are sitting in some isolated rooms on the first floor of the Water Tower. They are being asked questions, but so far beyond the fact that the princess has disappeared, nothing in the Tower was out of place."

The Crown Princess rose, and asked, "Is Your Majesty satisfied with the statement?"

Being given a nod by the Queen, the Crown Princess then stood, and asked, "Captain, why was Astra alone in her suite?"

"Your Highness, this was intentional. As you remember, the Water Tower suite did not have the space usually fit for a princess, and Astra wished for privacy. We could not comfortably fit the Princess in such a suite. We also felt at the time that, with a guard at the door and two people looking at her through a window, that having someone in the room was not needed."

"How were the sixteen guards deployed? Did you need more?"

The Captain paused, expecting to give information, and not to be called on to defend the preparations of one of her Lookouts. "Your Highness, the Lookout thought that sixteen would be enough, or she would have asked for more. She believed in distributing them through the building."

"Was there more than one guard at any point?"

"Your Highness, that is an excellent question. I asked that very question of the Lookout this morning. She told me that there were two at the window, and the rest were spread out within the tower in order to react to emergencies."

"Is that normal?"

"Your Highness, it is not unprecedented. It is common deployment in field manuevers for the militias, for example, and effective."

"I have seen it used for exercises against armies, but usually I see at least two sentries per strong point. Why was this chosen?"

"Your Highness, the Lookout of the Fourth Watch believed that the sentries would be more alert if they were separated, and rotated often."

"Hmm. So was there a discipline problem?"

"Your Highness, it was never thought of as such. It was just thought that it would be a way of keeping the sentries sharp."

"Are any of the other watches using that set up?"

"No, Your Highness."

"Now, Captain, you give a good deal of latitude to your lookouts, it appears. Am I correct?"

"Yes, Your Highness, I let them make a number of their own decisions, as would be fitting for their watches."

"Now, have you or the Home Guard discovered anything since dawn this morning?"

"No, Your Highness."

"Do you think that perhaps someone on duty that night could have assisted in the vanishing of the princess?"

"Your Highness, my intuition tells me 'No.'" The Captain paused, as if considering specific sentries. "But since there is so much mystery about this, I honestly cannot say that it would be impossible."

"What are you plans for deploying the Watches for tonight?"

The captain quickly said, "Well, Your Highness, ah, I have already ordered the eight on reserve to report to the Water Tower tonight. The others will guard the Royal Palace. After the long night and morning, I do not think that there would be much benefit to deploying those that guarded the Water Tower to duty right away."

"Captain, they may be facing a miliary inquiry before the end of the day, and so I personally agree with your action." The Crown Princess then turned toward the room and raised her voice. "Does anyone else have questions for the Captain?"

Much of the audience had their eyes on the ground. The Crown Princess, although she was noted for having a keen mind, was usually not this direct. One woman dared the Captain ask some questions.

"Captain," said the Assistant Doyeness, "Did the Home Guard find anything unusual in the city itself?"

The Captain replied, "Not very much out of the ordinary. There were several people that were wandering about under the influence of strong drink. There were somewhat more than usual. But that was blamed on the ceremony at the Water Tower of the day before."

"Have the drunks been questioned?"

"Yes. The Senior Centurion assures me that amongst Aqualarians, there were no surprises. A couple of foreigners were caught as well."

"Do you think that they might be potential spies?"

"Two Allarians."

Lord Fred spoke up, "I know both of those gentlemen. I can, uh, vouch for their general good character, as well as admit that I am not surprised to see them on such a list."

The Assistant Doyeness asked a couple of more questions. "Was this the first night that watches had guarded the Water Tower?"

"Yes."

"I don't have any more questions."

The Captain was dismissed by the Princess Consort. She took her pampliset and walked stiffly back to a bench, avoiding eye contact with the Crown Princess.

  1. The next speaker summoned was Madame Berea.

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